John Candy to be Honoured at Grey Cup Celebrations

The legendary late comedian John Candy will be honoured tonight at Roy Thomson Hall during CFL Player Awards, which are part of annual Grey Cup celebrations culminating with Sunday's game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Candy was a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts when they won the Grey Cup in 1991, but his name was somehow never inscribed on the cup. The other owners at the time were Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky. Actor Dan Aykroyd, an Ottawa native and friend of Candy's, is hosting the CFL awards dinner where, at long last, Candy's name will be added to the Grey Cup.

Aykroyd told CTV's Canada AM that the multi-talented Candy was a writer, he was a businessman, entrepreneur, he was a promoter of talent, he was a producer, a movie star, an impressionist and a great actor. And he was also an owner of the Argonauts, [which] the new generation may not remember..He was universally loved and universally respected. And you can't say that about all artists, you know?

Candy, a Newmarket native who grew up in Toronto, died in 1994 at age 43 of a massive heart attack, while on location filming Wagons East! in Durango, Mexico.